Dead Space: Intermission
by BringTheRaine
Summary: Experience the decay of the Ishimura through the eyes of a newly-assigned maintenance engineer named Brandt.
1. Prologue Chapter

It's dark again. I can't see anything. There's no light, no movement, no anything. Sounds flood whatever space I'm in. I hear the sounds of electrical sparks flying off in the distance, muffled screams from afar, and what sounds like deep breathing all around me. Garbled moans and muffled groans fill what's left of the air.

It's hot. I don't think I've ever sweat this much in my life. Picking myself up off the floor, I lean back. The wall is freezing against my skin, but offers no help. I wipe sweat from my forehead with a drenched hand. Again, no help. The air is thick, and I'm finding it harder to breathe. I'm not familiar with this place, although I have a feeling in my stomach that says I should be. Where am I?

A light flickers on in the distance, then another. Simultaneously lights power on and off in erratic surges. The scenery looks very much that of a ship, a large class of starship I imagine. It's a design much similar to one of the planet crackers, like the one they assigned me to last week. Wait, was that last week? What day is it? What time is it?

I stumble to my feet and try to gain focus. I've got to get a grip and figure out just what the hell is going on. The lights are still pulsing in the distance. The exit to the room looks like it leads out to a long hallway. The last thing I remember is being at the celebration party in the mess hall last night. Did I drink too much? Did I somehow black out?

A thumping sound trails across the far end of the hallway, accompanied by a lumbering shadow. I strain my eyes to see, but still can't manage to make out anything. The thumping sound continues, and is followed by a grotesque laugh. Leaning forward, I sway to the doorway.

"H-hello? ...anyone there?"

There's no answer, only more thumping. With one hand against the railing on the wall I start down the hallway, continuing to call, hoping for someone to answer all while being afraid of what I would hear.

"Hey, is anyone out there? Answer me!"

Just then, a woman's voice sprawls out of the silent darkness.

"Brandt? Brandt, help me!"  
The voice echoes louder, pounding in my head. I reach the corner and peer out into the blackness. Lights were still flickering, but the room was visible enough. I was back in the mess hall. That's when I saw it. Shuffling towards Nessa was a dark figure, wielding a plasma saw.

"Holy shit!"

Then, it saw me. The figure turned to face me, its face distorted and mangled in a bloody mess, but that wasn't the frightening part. As the creature turned to face me, my spine ran cold. Underneath all of the mangled flesh and blood, the macabre creature was recognizable. It looked like..me.

"Brandt!"

Nessa. She was trapped in the corner by this creature. This shadow of myself was terrorizing the one I love the most, and was mere seconds away from ending her life. As the words left my lips the figure turned its attention to me. With a speed I had never seen, it clambered towards me.

"Brandt! Brandt, no!"

Then, before I could process it, my shadow was upon me. I tried to react, but I couldn't find the strength to move. That's when I felt it. My torso burned as the plasma saw tore through it, spilling my entrails onto the floor. I watched as I cut myself open, looking then back to Nessa with a blank stare. In an out-of-body experience I visualized myself ripping my body to pieces, before running back to deliver the same fate to Nessa. She didn't deserve this. None of it made sense.

My eyes darted in all directions in horror as I saw Nessa's former being cover the floor in a warm shallow crimson. Her lifeless gaze was upon mine, meeting in a surreal moment of sincerity. I could still hear her voice piercing my brain.  
The light played hide and seek with the walls, lighting up my shadow, then camouflaging it back into the dark. The madness didn't stop with Nessa's death. Laughing maniacally, the other me turned to face my corpse. Staring holes into my eyes it lifted the saw to its throat, and with a smile, it ended whatever life it had. The laughing stopped, and for a second silence fell upon the room. The lights stopped flickering. Everything went black, and stayed frozen that way.

Voices soon filled the void left behind by the murderous scenario. I couldn't feel anything. The voices were all I could focus on. They were almost inaudible, though I made them out. Sometimes they called out my name, sometimes they told me to do things - unspeakable things. I didn't know where the hell the voices were emanating from, but it felt like they were everywhere. After what seemed like a lifetime, everything went faded to black again.

"Brandt? Come on, Brandt. Snap out of it!"

I felt the chill of ice-cold water drown my face. Immediately I sat up, thrashing my arms out in all directions.

"Finally! It's about time for you to join the rest of us living."

I wiped the liquid from my face and opened my eyes. I was back in my quarters on the ship, safe and sound. Chalk another one up to those horrible fucking nightmares. Light forced its way into my eyelids, providing an intense burning sensation. After I regained my vision, I looked over to see Morrigan shooting a smirk in my direction.

"Good morning to you, too, Morrigan."

She rolled her eyes at me, and leaned up against the door frame.

"Time to rise and shine. Shift starts at 0800 and you know Sid's not one for taking kindly to being tardy."

I shook my head a bit. Sid. He was chief engineer in the third maintenance sector aboard the ship, and he hated it when any of us were not at work on time. It took a minute for me to regain a grip on my reality. Ever since I boarded this ship things have felt strange. Sure, I needed the money, but what this ship was built to do is a touchy subject. Planet cracking. To some it's nonsense, to others it's a way of life. Either way, I have a family to look out for, so I do what's best.

"I'll be ready in a minute. Now get out of here and let me take a shower first, would you?"

Morrigan flashed a sarcastic smile my way and wandered out of the room. She called out as she walked down the hall.

"You better hurry up. You know how Sid gets, Brandt. You don't want to hear his, 'The Ishimura is more than just a ship,' speech again do you?"

I shook my head.

"No ma'am."

Although I began to think Sid was on to something with that speech.  



	2. Chapter One  Welcome To The Ishimura

"Jacobs! Late again! Are we going for some kind of record here?"

Sid looked at me with a keen glare as I stepped through the doorway to Engineering Deck 3. I was a bit out of breath, and didn't really have anything to say. I felt the eyes of everyone on me.

"Well? Do you have anything to say?"

I huffed a bit and stood straight, shoulders back.

"Sorry, sir. Won't happen again. Just got a late start this morning."

Sid could tell the sarcasm in my voice, and I could hear chuckling coming from my seating area. Morrigan peaked her head around the corner of her chair.

"Well, it better not Jacobs. The Ishimura won't run herself. We have a job to do. Remember that. Now sit down."

"Yes sir."

I slowly paced over to my work station and logged in. The display lit up in a bright orange, appearing in mid-air right in front of me. The display showed the internal readings of the ship, from fuel readouts to the ADS system. I was just recently assigned to this ship, the Ishimura. My job was simple, and it payed well. I was assigned to help monitor the ship's internal systems and make repairs if necessary. I didn't really work with hardware, but software was my strong point. The line of work had its ups and downs, but I was focused on the bigger picture - taking care of Nessa, and myself.

"Smooth move there Brandt. Almost makes me feel bad for volunteering my time to wake you up this morning."

Morrigan was tinkering away at her station. She monitored the electrical systems on the ship, making sure that power was routed to the right places. She was the first person I met aboard the Ishimura, and pretty much the only person on the ship I could call a "friend."

"Your disappointment is duely noted, Morrigan."

"Good. At this rate you're gonna need to start running a tab. What the hell was going on with you this morning anyway?"

I tried not to answer. I didn't want to talk about the nightmare's I had been having. They made me feel crazy, and they made absolutely no fucking sense. They started about a week and a half ago while I was down on the colony, and ever since the planet was cracked four days ago, they have gotten worse. I don't know if it's the stress, or what, but I wanted to just forget about them.

I started running diagnostics on the ship, continuing to ignore Morrigan's requests. The schematics of the ship flashed in front of me, showing that all systems were in running order.

"Hello? Earth to Brandt! You awake over there?"

I continued working, studying the anatomy of the ship, making sure to check on every little detail so as not to miss anything.

"That's a bold phrase to use out here, Morrigan. Especially with all of the Earth-borns on the ship. You know everyone wants to go back home, myself included."

Nessa and I moved to the colony about a month and a half ago. We moved so I could get this job, and so she could stay close to me. With the resources on Earth practically depleted, we had no other choice. The colony was a safe place, although it was literally in the middle of nowhere. With everyone pitching in, though, we made it work. We all kept up hope that after the planet was cracked, we would have enough resources to be able to go back home.

Planet cracking... It was a serious subject. The idea was to journey out to a new planet, confirm that no life was present, and then use our technology to harvest the planet for resources. It was a very grim theory, but hell, we had to do what was necessary. We needed minerals, fossil fuels, anything we could strip. Sometimes we would find things we weren't even looking for, like with the case of Aegis VII.

Aegis VII was positioned out in the darkest, most unknown part of space. The decision was made for the Ishimura to head to this system and begin the planet crack, although some spoke of word that it was illegal to be in this part of the system and have anything to do with the planet. Despite the speculation, we were here, and we continued with the mission.

Once the planet was cracked, archaeologists found an artifact. Scientists called it the "Marker." Some believed it to be of alien origin, others believed it to be the work of God. Arguments went on and on about it, but scientists still were trying to learn as much about the Marker as they possibly could. Once it was exhumed from the planet, things changed quickly.

"Gees, calm down why don't you? I was just asking a question."

I shook my head a bit, and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"I know. It's none of your concern anyway. I'll be fine."

Of course, even I didn't know if I would be or not. I just knew that her persistance was going to irritate me, so I had to cut her off quickly.

"Fine. You don't have to be an ass, Brandt."

I ignored her remark and continued working. I checked in on the ship's power output, and noticed that a lot of power had been rerouted from the ADS system to other parts of the ship. Normally this wouldn't be a good idea, but I suppose that since we're sitting clear above the planet there wasn't much to worry about so I let it be.

"Doctor Kaim, please report to the medical deck. Repeat. Doctor Kaim, please report to the medical deck stat."

The PA rang out across the ship. We didn't use the PA often since our Rigs had been synced up to the ship, allowing for almost instant location and communication. The only time the PA was used is when someone somehow went missing, or if it was a dire emergency.

Everyone around me was staring up towards the ceiling in the room.

"What's that all about?"

"Is there trouble?"

People seemed to be startled.

"Alright, calm down you fools. This is no matter to worry about. It doesn't concern you so get back to work."

Sid barked at everyone to mind their own consoles and get back to their duties. He did have a point, after all. This involved Doctor Kaim, not us. Just like that, everyone got back to work.

Soon enough it was time for lunch. We all headed down to the mess hall to grab whatever the workers down there cooked up for the day. Food aboard the Ishimura wasn't like you'd get back home. Everything was processed, frozen, or barely digestable. I guess it's the price you pay for working aboard a planet cracker starship, huh?

Morrigan was walking slowly, with a cautious look on her face.

"What do you suppose that PA announcement was all about?"

She was looking over at me, searching for an answer.

"I have no idea. But whatever it was, it's none of our concern. Ship systems check out, so it wasn't any kind of anomoly. We're still doing our job, and that's the point."

She looked down at the floor, harboring a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah... But the last time they had to search for someone using the PA the person was found dead. Something just doesn't feel right."

I stopped, taking her by the arm.

"Morrigan, listen. There is nothing to be worried about. They only had one announcement, so Doctor Kaim must have managed to get where he was supposed to go. There have been no lock downs, and no alerts on the ship. Calm down, okay?"

She looked up at me for a second, and then smiled with a deep breath.

"All right. Besides, if I waste my lunch hour worrying, all the good eats'll be gone!"

I flashed a smirk at her and we continued on to the mess hall. When we arrived the room was a bit louder than usual. People were standing around tables, chatting. There seemed to be an uneasy aura about the room.

Morrigan and I walked through the line, overhearing bits of conversations along the way. Once we finally got to a table, we could hear people all around us talking clearly.

"I heard that someone went berserk again in the medical lab. That's why Kaim was called in. The nurses couldn't hold him down."

Really? Berserk? Heh, maybe the space plague got to him. The space plague was something that people get when they can't handle being on a starship in space any longer. It's like a temporary madness that some contract. Usually a shot of sedative and a couple days of relaxation will cause it to wear off, but this sounded like something different the more I overheard.

"Yeah. Michelle in the nurse's wing told me that the guy attacked one of the new nurses. He even fought the first sedative shot the doctors gave him! It took everything the staff had to hold him down. She said it was the largest dose of the drug they have ever had to give anyone, and when they injected him he finally passed out."

Attacked a nurse? That's definitely not the plague. It makes people anti-social. Locks them off. No, this was something different. It seemed like something familiar, though. Something like what the colony down below was dealing with. Nessa would explain these situations to me when we spoke over the phone. She said that people began acting crazy. We figured that the colonists somehoe got the plague, but just dealt with being locked down on the colony. Then she would tell me that they started getting violent. Doctors and scientists aboard the ship have been sutdying similar behaviors of colonists, and now something like that has made it to the ship? Something doesn't seem right.

Morrigan hadn't even taken a bite from her sandwich, and I could feel her eyes staring holes into the side of my head.

"Nothing to worry about, huh? What do you have to say now Brandt?"

Shit.  



End file.
